Deloi
by Okmin
Summary: The fight against Galbatorix is not going well, but the elves have found some new potential allies: another world.
1. To Win a War

**I actually wrote this a really long time ago, and here it is, being published, just because I feel like it. :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Inheritance Cycle. If I did, Book 4 would be out already. This is the only time I'm writing this disclaimer. If anyone complains about me not having a disclaimer later, they obviously never looked at the first chapter. Cheaters. :P**

**AN: In case you didn't know, deloi is the Ancient word for earth. And for reference, a league is about 3 miles. I know this chapter is ridiculously short, but I have reasons. Enjoy.**

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To Win A War...

Eragon, Arya, and Nasuada stood around the large table of the war room, surveying an oversized map of Alagaesia. After capturing Feinster, the Varden had moved their base of operations to Lady Lorana's castle. The war was not going well. At first, it seemed that the Varden had finally gained the upper hand - shortly after Feinster and Ceunon fell, Aruoghs and Therisford surrendered, and the elves encountered no resistance in Yazuac and Daret. As the massive pincer movement continued, however, the elves were beaten back twice at Gil'ead, and the Varden had lost a quarter of its army assaulting Belatona. The battle map showed the terrible results in blood red ink. After almost a minute of somber silence, Nasuada spoke, "If we are to continue our march to Uru'baen, we must join with the elves' spellweavers. Without their support, we cannot take any city larger than this one. Unfortunately, they are in the same position. The only paths that exist between our two armies are through the Hadarac Desert or through the Spine," she traced the routes on the map with a finger. "The best course of action would be to have the elves come to us, since they are more likely to survive the journey. However, such an action would leave Du Weldenvarden totally defenseless."

"So were stuck," commented Eragon.

"Not necessarily, if we moved the-" Nasuada was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. She sighed and called, "Enter!"

The heavy wooden door creaked open and an Urgal Nighthawk stepped in. "Lady Nightstalker, the elf queen wishes to speak with you. She says it's urgent."

Nasuada spent a moment deciphering the Urgal's accent then said, "Very well. Eragon, Arya, come with me." The three hurried to Nasuada's private quarters, where they had placed a seeing glass for private communication. Islanzadi stood impatiently as they crossed the room. Eragon and Arya touched two fingers to their lips and began to say, "Atra-" before the queen snapped, "Don't bother with formalities! This matter cannot wait any longer."

She continued quickly, but calmly, "Some of our more... _innovative _spellcasters have - purely by accident - discovered the existence of another world. The Menoa Tree contacted them about it, and in short revealed that she could send a person there, as a sort of... ambassador." At this everyone froze with shock, even Saphira outside, as Eragon's disbelief flew across their mental link. "Humans seem to be the only race on their world, but it is vitally important that Eragon and Saphira get there. Those humans can't use magic, but they have weapons that can devastate entire armies at once; we need all the help we can get to defeat Galbatorix. Arya, you must stay with the Varden. So must Eragon's guards. He and Saphira must fly as fast as possible to Ellesmera. Leave immediately and do _not_ tell anyone about this." The glass darkened as Islanzadi ended the spell. Never had anyone heard the queen speak with such urgency.

At the first sound of the word "Go!" from Nasuada, Eragon snapped out of his astonishment, ran as fast as he could to the courtyard, and jumped onto Saphira's already-harnessed back. He knew that this was almost certainly the most important mission in the entire history of Alagaesia, and had a sense of urgency greater than that of a man whose house was burning to ground. The blue dragon leapt over the city walls and flapped her wings furiously to get them north. And hopefully, to a way to win the war.

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**If you liked it, review. If you **_**really**_** liked it, click that thing that says "Add to Favorites". If you think it was too short/not enough happened, wait for the next few chapters. If you hated it, don't review unless you have something useful to say. FYI, anything that means basically, "this story sucks" is NOT useful. Try to remember this was written a year ago and I didn't change it.  
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	2. Beyond the Sky

**This was written right after chapter one. Just saying. And now they changed the rules to say "no non-historical and non-fictional characters" which basically means no living people. So, I apologize for that and will leave all real people out... starting with chapter three.  
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**Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Oh, and I don't own NASA, the ISS, any kind of spaceship, any astronauts (and they never said anything written here), the US Department of Defense, the US Secretary of Defense, or Houston, Texas. Now you see why I hate writing disclaimers. And I don't own any parts of space either. If I did, that would be awesome.  
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**AN: For some weird reason, STS-133 is the last space shuttle mission, but the one before it is STS-134. Before that's STS-132. 132, 134, 133. -_-" By the way, this chapter is a lot longer than the first.**

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Beyond the Sky

_Where will you get the energy for such a spell?_ inquired Eragon. The Menoa Tree had told them very little, but it was all they needed to know: Eragon and Saphira would be teleported to a desert country know as Afghanistan, where they were to find the army of a group called the United Nations (or a member nation), gain their trust, and convince them to take them to their headquarters. Upon their arrival, Queen Islanzadi would contact them via scrying, and deliver further instructions.

_Where all plants get their strength - the sun is a powerful source of energy_.

_Then why don't _we _use it?_ asked Saphira

_Do you have leaves? _the Tree snapped_. Now pay attention. The distances involved in this spell are vast beyond comprehension. You may end up high above the surface of the world. I will cast an additional spell allowing you to breath and otherwise survive until you reach the surface. Now go._

Before they could ask how they were meant to go about getting to the surface, the entire forest trembled and there was a blinding flash of light, followed by pure darkness.

Eragon opened his eyes less than a finger's breadth, only to be greeted by an even deeper blackness. He opened them all the way and stared. Never had the stars seemed so clear... Or so alien. He couldn't find any of the stars Brom and the elves had taught him. _I must have landed on my back._ With a strange feeling of weightlessness, he tried to push himself into a sitting position, only to find no ground on which to put his hand. Alarmed, he reached out with his mind to find Saphira. She was just as panicked. _Eragon! I can't move!_

Eragon looked to his left and found Saphira floating in place, trashing like fish out of water._ Save your energy, _he said, almost amused. "Fraum," he tried, but no sound came from his mouth. Nothing, not even a drain of his strength._ We're obviously not getting anywhere. We need to find... Afghanistan._

_Maybe it would be a better idea to find the world first, _pointed out Saphira, amused.

_Oh. _It was a strange feeling, hanging there not knowing where the world was. Eragon looked past his feet. There was a small white and gray orb in the distance. It looked vaguely like the moon of Alagaesia. _If the moon's there, then the world must be..._ He titled his head as far back as possible, and laid his eyes on an enormous sphere. It was almost totally black, with the rounded horizons glowing deep blue. Large areas of the surface glowed like a million lanterns. _Saphira, can you see- _

Something moved at the edge of Eragon's vision. _Who, or what, else could be up here? And how are they moving?_

The object drifted closer. At first it looked like a strange bird, but it did not have wings or feathers or any other detail one would expect to find on a bird. But, Eragon reasoned, it was another world. The object was roughly conical in shape, on a triangular base. Its front and underside were black, its top white. A short, wing-like protrusion extended from the top near the back, on either side of which there was an elongated bump. Above the rounded point at the front, there were several reflective panels arranged in a row.

It was getting closer.

Eragon fumbled for Brisingr in case he had to defend himself. The sword would most likely be useless - his movements were sluggish at best - but it comforted him to be holding a weapon. As an experiment, he tried to set his sword on fire, as he always could on Alagaesia. He couldn't get his mouth to form the word. After trying several other words in every language he knew, Eragon gave up, then panicked. _What if nobody on this world can speak? How could we communicate?_

The strange bird drew closer, then stopped ten yards from Eragon, and titled so its top faced them. Eragon noticed markings on the "wings": one was a blue circle with a red streak and the letters "NASA", the other was a small rectangle with a blue corner and red and white stripes, the word "DISCOVERY" was written below it. On the side of the thing, Eragon glimpsed the blue circle and the rectangle, each on a side of the words "UNITED STATES".

Saphira noticed. _It must have been built by the people of this world. Maybe they named it, just as humans on Alagaesia name their ships._

_Maybe. That makes sense. But what is it called? "nasa" or "discovery"? "Discovery" seems more suitable for a ship, but what if it's not a ship? And for all we know, "nasa" might mean something in their language, and "discovery" could mean anything... Or nothing. What are the chances that they speak any language we know?_

_But "united states"... it fits a country well._

_True... although it sounds more like an alliance or empire. A union- _He stopped and stared at the "ship". It's back split in half and opened on hinges, like the great doors of Tronjheim. _Should we...?_

Before Saphira could answer, a bulky white thing, vaguely resembling a person, drifted out of the "ship". It was attached to the "ship" by a long white rope, seemed to have a large backpack, and in place of a face, there was a reflective orb. On its left shoulder was the rectangle they had seen on the "ship". The suit studied Eragon and Saphira for some seconds, held up a hand, apparently in greeting, and continued moving forward.

_Don't hurt him_, said Eragon, deciding it was a human in some strange armor. _We don't want to make them angry._ He raised a hand in return and sheathed Brisingr.

The man grabbed Eragon by the arm and started back to ship, then turned and stared at the large sapphire dragon. In a few moments the "ship" drifted closer. _Maybe they can think to each other too. _Eragon saw the glow of the fire at its rear. _How...?_

More people in suits came out of the "ship" and attempted to push Saphira in. The man with Eragon brought him in and left to help the others. Eragon looked around, noticing that he was still floating a foot off the floor. There were some crates lashed to the floor; it appeared similar to a cargo hold. At one end of the hold, there was what appeared to be an open door, with another behind it. Curious, he pulled himself along the wall and into the small chamber. A panel on the wall read, "CLOSE OUTER DOOR". He closed the door. There was a loud, constant hiss, and steamed seemed to pour into the room. Afterward, the panel had change to say, "SAFE TO ENTER". The inner door opened easily. Eragon found himself in an empty room with several chairs and dozens of lights and panels glowing with colors and messages and pictures. He tapped the surface of a panel. Glass.

He began searching for any sign of a way to reach the surface. One panel displayed "LONG", "LAT", "ALT", each followed by a series of numbers, at the top. In the center was a complex pattern of lines curves. The bottom showed "Sun 9-26-10 13:47 EDT". Another glass square was green with a series of circles and a line spinning around. A group of dots moved towards the center.

A loud crash shook the "ship". Eragon rushed back into the cargo hold. Saphira lay squeezed between walls and crates, her head flat to the ground so the ceiling-doors could close. She attempted to snort in the soundless hold. _Before, I could at least try to move. Now I can't or I'll put a hole in this oversized metal bird._

The ceiling closed and the hold hissed like the small room Eragon had been in before. When it stopped, he noticed a white suited figure with a foot pinned under Saphira's leg. The others floated over and helped him out, and all six came towards Eragon. They removed their reflective helmets, revealing regular human faces. Eragon sighed in relief. All were men, except one woman. One man stepped forward, began to extend a hand for Eragon to shake, hesitated, and asked warily, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Eragon was stunned. _What are the odds_..."Yes."

The man was just as surprised. "Well that's strangely convenient. But I gotta make sure you actually know what I'm saying. Understand so far?"

"Completely." _I never expected to have my ability to _speak_ tested._

Saphira was silently amused.

"Okay, count up, starting with... zero. Nothing."

Eragon recited the numbers up to one hundred.

"Okay, we're good. For now, at least. They'll want to give you a more thorough test ground-side, though."

Everyone relaxed visibly. "I guess I better introduce everyone," the man said. "Steven Lindsey, commander of this mission." Steven stuck out a hand. Eragon shook. _Same customs, apparently._

"This is our pilot, Eric Boe." Eric waved. "And our mission specialists Ben Drew, Michael Baratt, Tim Kopra, and Nicole Scott. And you are...?"

"Eragon... sir," Eragon said, deciding to interpret "commander" the way he was used to.

"Eragon," said the commander. "Welcome to Space Shuttle _Discovery_... and planet Earth."

Saphira snorted. _What an unimaginative name for a world. Might as well call it Dirt._

_

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_**AN: Yay, a decent length chapter! Now I have to write one teaching Eragon what "space", "atmosphere", "pilot", etc mean... Ugh. :P**


	3. Separate Worlds 101

**Disclaimer: If you ever see this, it means I have something new to... er, disclaim. This time it is all parts of the planet Earth (location: third planet from the star in the Sol System, located in Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, which is the one next to Andromeda). That about covers everything for the rest of the story.**

**AN: Thanks to a lot of very positive reviews, I'm actually going to write this. Yes, that means I wasn't actually planning on going past the second chapter. I wrote it a year ago, remember? Anyway, dialog heavy chapter coming up.  
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Separate Worlds 101

Eragon tried in vain to suppress a laugh.

"What's so funny?" the commander asked. The rest of the crew was staring quizzically.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "Just something Saphira said."

"Who?"

Eragon was amazed they hadn't remembered the only dragon. "Her." He pointed.

"The dragon?" Lindsey sounded amazed. "It..." Saphira growled. "_She, _can talk? And hear what I'm saying?"

"Of course! You're not saying you have never heard of a dragon, are you?" Eragon was equally surprised.

The commander sighed. "Look, we have a lot of questions, you have a lot of questions, and everyone needs to get to the ground before we run out of gas. I'm gonna leave you two here to talk to Ben and Nicole. Everyone else, cockpit. We're going home."

The crew pulled themselves back to the front of the shuttle, leaving just one man and the woman with Eragon and Saphira. They looked around uncomfortably. If this had been ground-side, they would be shifting their feet a bit too, but no one was standing.

Nicole spoke up first. "Well, I suppose you'll want to know what all _this_ is." She gestured vaguely around the cabin. Eragon nodded. "Ever heard of outer space?" He shook his head. "How do I put this... We are currently 200 miles above Earth's surface. So far out that we aren't being pulled down, which is why there isn't any air up here – they'll explain that later – and we need special suits to breathe." She thought for a moment. "How are you still alive?"

_I see now, _Saphira commented, _the Menoa Tree said she would cast a spell __to allowing us to 'breathe and otherwise survive'. But s__he did leave out the small detail about the lack of air._

Eragon merely shrugged and replied. "Magic," he said simply. The crewmen, for what was probably the fifth time, looked at him like he was a strange fish they found on a desert mountain – a comparison that wouldn't be too far from the truth.

_Eragon! Remember what Queen Islanzadi said? These people have no magic._

"Oh! I should explain." And they floated for half an hour while Eragon told of his far off world filled with humans and dragons and elves and dwarves and magic. While he was skimming over the Ancient Language, Ben spoke for the first time.

"Ancient? You mean like Latin?"

"What is Latin?" _Maybe they have a language of power, but they don't know what it can do._

"It was spoken about two thousand years ago in Europe, mainly Italy. No one uses it now." He shrugged and unfolded a large map, pointing out the places he mentioned. Eragon was temporarily diverted from his tales of Alagaesia and given a short lesson on Earth's geography. "That's Africa... Asia... India, China, Korea, Afghanistan – we're fighting a war there – Australia..." _Big island,_ Saphira commented. "And here we are in North America. There's Mexico, Canada, and us: the United States of America. We've got all this... plus this – that's Alaska – and the Hawaiian islands."

"Why is it called the United States? I only see one state."

"Uh... there's actually fifty that make up the union. I can probably find a map of them..."

"No, it's okay. Why the United States _of America_? Your country barely controls a third _North_ America, and nothing in the South." And so Eragon was again diverted and given a brief American history lesson, followed by world history because he wanted to know about Britain, then France, then the Roman Empire and the history of every nation they conquered.

Finally, he was able to explain the situation of the Varden and why he had been sent to Earth.

For the first time, Ben smiled. "Well, we have just the thing to end your little war, don't we, Nicole?"

She laughed. "Yes, we do. That king would never see it coming!"

Eragon wondered what they were talking about.

"Oh, you'll see, eventually." His amused grin stayed for a while. Then Commander Scott's voice spoke, seemingly in Eragon's head.

"Crew, ten minutes to re-entry. Might want to get up here. That means you too Eragon."

_I thought they didn't have magic!_

"And don't worry, this is just an intercom. Not some magical mind trick."

"Come one, we'll have to explain the magic thing to him later." The crew members made their way to the nose. Eragon followed. _Saphira?_

_Don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere._ Her large blue eyes glared at the walls blocking her movement. _Nowhere at all._

_You'll be out soon enough, _Eragon smiled half-sympathetically and closed the cockpit door.

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**AN: First chapter in a year, so review. I need to know if my writing's better/worse than before. Hopefully better.**


	4. Approach

**AN: Notice how there is no disclaimer. And I'm sorry this took so long! I had writer's block. XP Some space shuttle specs for reference:**

**Cruising speed: Mach 23.5 (17,895.5 mph)**

**Landing speed: 220 mph**

**Force of deceleration on reentry: 3 Gs (people black out at 4)**

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**Approach

The door hissed as Eragon entered the cockpit. All the different glass panels he saw before were flashing numbers, lines, dots... everything the crew understood but he didn't. In the window he could make out a vast strip of land flanked by blue water. _I assume we're landing there, _he guessed, sending Saphira the image.

"Eragon!" Commander Lindsey called, not taking his eyes off the window. "Nice of you to join us, someone get him a suit and help him strap in."

Ben stood up and rummaged through a small compartment. "Here," he said, handing Eragon an orange suit identical to the ones the crew was wearing. Eragon studied the multitude of patches on it.

"Why do I have to wear that?" he protested. "My clothes are perfectly fine!"

The man laughed. "Well, for one thing nobody on Earth dresses like that, and it would be a little suspicious if we walked off the shuttle with an extra guy who looks like he came out of the Middle Ages. It'll also keep you a little less crushed when we land."

Eragon reluctantly put it on. _I look like... I don't know what I look like!_

_A diseased tree?_ Suggested a certain amused dragon.

He didn't respond.

"Now come sit in this chair and put that harness on." Ben instructed. Eragon did, but he almost got entangled in the straps before being rescued and taught the fine art of using a seatbelt.

"And wearing this will stop me from falling of the ship, right?" Eragon muttered sarcastically.

Ben had returned to his seat. "Yes."

Saphira would have laughed at her rider's new-found anxiety, but she was too busy trying to get her tail out from under her back legs to notice.

A long silence ensued, during which Eragon watched the land rush towards _Discovery_ while the crew continuously monitored and adjusted countless strange instruments. Finally, the pilot's voice rang out. "Ten seconds to atmosphere! Nine, eight, seven... five... two, one..."

The shuttle jerked back violently before settling into a steady rumbling. Eragon understood why he has strapped to his seat.

Lindsey pressed something. "Mission control, this is _Discovery,_ we're on course for KSC. ETA... Thirty minutes."

Something crackled. "Roger _Discovery_, weather conditions are good, proceed with landing."

The conversation was quick, rigidly formal, and, it seemed, followed a well established pattern. "Are you in the military?" Eragon guessed.

"Yes we are, now no more questions 'til after we land. Survival comes before curiosity." This time the pilot replied.

This time, Saphira had given up on her tail and noticed what was going on. _Why does the trained flyer expect a chance of death?_ Eragon chose not to think about it.

The shuttle was silent again, except for the slight roar of rushing air outside. The Earth got closer. Soon they could see a few small buildings near a long black strip. _We should be landing there._ Just as Eragon came to that conclusion, the shuttle turned left, back out over the ocean. "Are you insane?" he wanted to shout. _No one lands on water!_ The continued its turn until it once again faced the landing area. He sighed with relief. Then it happened again. After the third circle, they continued flying straight. _What was that?_

_We're flying more slowly now_, observed the cramped dragon.

An explosion pounded Eragon's ears. The crew didn't notice. _Saphira!_

_I am fine, little one. A bit hard of hearing, but fine._

He couldn't keep from asking. "What happened?"

"That was perfectly normal. What did I say about questions?" Boe snapped. Eragon's head hung. "Sorry, that was just a sonic boom. Means we're slowing down." And he went back to guiding the shuttle to land.

The air crackled again before a voice spoke. "_Discovery, _you are coming in too fast, copy?"

No one responded. The Alagaesian visitors grew nervous.

"Repeat, you are coming in _too fast, Discovery._ Decelerate immediately or the runway will be too short."

The commander looked at Boe. "What's wrong?"

"We have a five ton lizard in the hold! Of course we're going too fast." Saphira muttered something about dragons and size and grandeur.

"And what are you going to do about that?" Eragon was surprised at Lindsey's calm. Clearly he trusted his crew.

"Land," the pilot shrugged, "It's not like we're gonna use this thing again."

"Smithsonian'll kill us – this thing put Hubble up."

"Look on the bright side – we'll be the only crew to ever survive a shuttle disaster." Boe finished drily. Eragon didn't like the "only crew to ever survive" part.

Another crackle. The previously stiff, military voice broke protocol. "Lindsey! What the hell are you doing? For God's sake, you're going too fast!"

As the gray strip loomed closer, Eragon heard the pilot mutter, "Planes get reverse engines. We spend two billion dollars on a shuttle and what do we get? A freaking parachute."

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Yay for cliffhangers! Don't worry, chapter 5 won't take so long. Review!**


	5. Still in One Piece

**AN: Well... Sorry. I knew I said this wouldn't take long, but between school getting really busy and some other stuff, I completely forgot about this. Forgive me?**

Still in One Piece

"Boe," the commander said plainly, "You are a damn good flyer."

Eragon was staring nervously out the cockpit window at the water five yards in front of the shuttle. Meanwhile, Saphira was attempting to crawl forward, away from the rear bulkhead she'd been pushed against during their landing.

"It's a six mile runway," Boe shrugged. "Well, if you count the swamp on both ends."

The crew laughed. Someone asked, "Now what? Usually we just drive over to the hangar. Can't really do that now."

"Everyone ready to jump out?" asked Lindsey. "We have some nice mud to break the fall."

He did something with the controls that Eragon couldn't see, and a door on the side of the cockpit opened. Eragon watched a few crewmembers jump out. When they got up from slipping on the ground, their spotless orange uniforms where covered in brown mud. "What about Saphira?"

Lindsey thought for a moment. "Can she swim?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'll open the hold and she can climb out and hide in the swamp until..."

Eragon heard a loud noise in the distance. It sounded like a strange trumpet repeating the same two notes over and over – one high, one low.

"Damn, that's the emergency crew. We'll have to leave her here for now and hope they don't notice you're new." And with that, the commander jumped to the ground.

_I'll come back for you._ Eragon promised as he followed everyone out the door.

Saphira growled. _Not again._

_We can't let them see you!_

The dragon growled again. Before Eragon could respond, the two-tone noise grew closer.

"Hey! Get behind us!" Boe called. Eragon hesitated and ran over to join the crew. They moved to mostly block him from the view of whatever was coming towards them. He saw flashing red and blue lights, but nothing else. They were blocking his view too. _They must have a reason._

He heard a man shout, "Lindsey!"

"Sir. I can explain."

"Save it for the media. We gotta get you people checked out, make sure your all still in one piece. And for some reason, the Secretary of Defense wants to debrief you. Everyone on the bus!"

The crew moved; Eragon followed, trying to keep himself as hidden as possible, while also trying to figure out what a "bus" was. The ground under his feet was hard as rock, but he'd never seen any stone like it. The crew began to form a line, trying to keep him in the middle. One by one, they climbed a few steps into a long, thin... it looked like a room, full of chairs with an aisle down the middle. Eragon took a seat behind two crewmen, hoping their heads would hide him. To his right he could see a small cart-looking object on black wheels. On top of it were the flashing lights he'd seen before. Another set of lights flashed in the distance, this time atop a large red, rectangular "cart". Earth was a strange place.

The bus started to move. Eragon assumed he was right about these things being cart-like, although there was nothing pulling it. They turned away from the shuttle and headed toward a few plain looking buildings. A strange lizard crawled out of the water and lay on the gray strip they landed on. Behind him, Boe whispered, "That's an alligator. They like sunning themselves when we're not using the runway."

_A bit like Saphira._ Eragon smiled, then wondered what would become of her.

There was shouting back where _Discovery_ was. Eragon turned and saw people running towards it. Hopefully they wouldn't search — the cargo hold exploded in a ball of fire. There was more shouting and people at the red cart sprayed water all over the shuttle. In the midst of all the chaos, Eragon glimpsed something blue slipping into the swamp. He smiled as Saphira swam slowly to a group of alligators to blend in.

Boe, however, was disappointed. "I tried to keep it in one piece, and this happens." He sighed. "Smithsonian's _definitely_ going to kill us."

**How about I don't say how long until chapter 6?**


	6. Welcoming Committee

**Remember when I said I wouldn't say how long to chapter 6? This is why. It's been almost three months. Sorry! All I can say is I ran out of ideas and then got busy with school and life. Anyways... Please forgive me and keep reading :P And here's a little sorta-spoiler to make up for it.**

**Recent real world events that affect this story: The actual space shuttle **_**Discovery**_** was retired pretty recently and it's gonna be displayed in the Smithsonian. Interesting how things work out. Osama bin Laden is dead and al-Qaeda plans revenge... *hint hint* Meanwhile the wars in the Mideast are winding down so I gotta come up with a new war for Eragon to see. Preferably involving WMDs. **

Welcoming Committee

Eragon whispered to Boe, "Where are can Saphira meet us?"

"I guess she can just follow us as long as she's outa sight, 'cause I don't know where we're going," the pilot thought for a moment. "How'd she get out?"

"She is a dragon."

Boe decided not to ask more questions. The bus was slowing to stop outside Kennedy Space Center's main building, where, as usual, the media were waiting to snap as many pictures as possible. Near the front of the bus, Commander Lindsey sighed. It would normally be hard enough to prevent the reporters from noticing they had an extra man – Eragon – and this time there were even more people around for _Discovery_'s final landing.

The doors opened. Eragon warily filed off the vehicle with the crew and followed as they passed the crowd waiting for them. He blinked at the random flashes of light coming from large black objects in their hands. _More strangeness; or magic?_

The flashing grew more rapid as they approached a man in a suit standing by the door – which was, oddly, transparent with a black rim – who shook hands with the person Eragon hadn't seen that had led them to the bus. Lindsey then stepped forward and saluted. "Sir." _Again, similar customs, assuming he really is a soldier. But they don't have weapons or armor._

"As you were. Come with me." The man gestured. "I think they've taken enough pictures."

They all entered the building and headed down several halls; no one spoke, though Eragon was tempted to ask who the suited man was. The walls were white and smooth, the floor made of some cotton-like material, and rectangles of light were evenly spread across the ceiling; everything was completely different from Alagaesia, especially the intriguing detail that the air was noticeably cooler than outside. Eventually they came to a closed to door with a uniformed man on either side. Each held a strange black item shaped roughly like the letter n, but with a long top part that was angled towards the floor. Eragon assumed they were guards with some kind of weapon. They all entered the room while the guards stayed in the hall. It was much like the hallways, except room-sized and had a large table in the center and a flag standing in a corner; Eragon couldn't see the whole thing, but it had stars and stripes.

_Saphira, are you there?_ he tried as the crew took seats at the table.

_Yes, little one. I am still in the water with these overgrown salamanders. They seem to think I'm food, _was the reply.

_You'll have to take a minute away from being eaten and see what's happening here. I have a feeling it's important._

_I can listen and fend off these pests at the same time._ Eragon received a mental image of an alligator opening its mouth, making a half-hissing half-growling noise, and then fleeing after seeing Saphira's teeth.

Meanwhile the man had begun to speak. "This room's soundproof and there's no bugs, if you're wondering. The reporters think I'm talking to you in private to congratulate you on your last mission. Really, we're in here to debrief you on the _interesting_ developments. Such as your landing..."

Boe pretended to look out a nonexistent window.

"Which is a minor detail compared to the fact that STRATCOM satellites picked up an ICBM-sized blob that randomly appeared right in your flight path." He looked directly at Eragon, as if studying him. "For those of you who don't know me, I am the Secretary of Defense for the United States of America, second in command of the US armed forces—"

_Only second? _commented Saphira. _Where is the first?_

"—the president couldn't make it down here. Something about the budget. But that's beside the point. Lindsey."

"Yes sir."

"Your friend isn't exactly the size of a nuke," he raised an eyebrow and smile slightly.

"Er..." the commander glanced at his crew. Eragon and Saphira waited nervously. "Sir, this is Eragon, and the uh, 'missile-blob' we found next to him was a two ton lizard," he said bluntly.

Saphira seemed offended.

"Well, a talking dragon, sir. Or at least she talks to him and understands what we say."

"And she breathes fire pretty good," Boe added dryly.

"That explains the landing," the secretary said. "And by the way, the Smithsonian really wanted that shuttle. We sent Hubble up in it. Now they're demanding a replacement and we're trying to get them to take Endeavour, so now LA's on our backs too. Fine mess your dragon made, Eragon. At least the cover-up'll be simple."

"Sorry sir," he tried. "Saphira was trying to get out. She also says she likes your clothes."

"Who?" the secretary looked incredibly confused.

"The dragon," the whole crew and Eragon said at once. They looked at each other and laughed nervously for a few seconds.

The man sighed. "Well, we've got a Hercules coming in to take you all to DC once we get the crowds and debris cleared. Meanwhile I have to brief the president and find some way to stop SETI from getting their word of this. Damn leaky bureaucracy."

He started to leave.

"Sir?" Eragon interrupted. "Saphira and I've been wondering; why are none of you surprised that we're here?"

"Oh, we see stuff like this _all_ the time," Boe said sarcastically.

"TV doesn't count Eric," someone said.

"Movies?"

"No."

"Books?"

"Nope."

"What abo—"

Lindsey interrupted, which Eragon was thankful for because he only understood the part about books. "You two cut it out! To answer the question it's because we as a civilization have been theorizing about other civilizations for a long time. We have protocols just in case, 'though the civilians generally expect aliens to have lasers and want to kill us all."

Eragon was still confused.

**There you go, nice 1000 word chapter to prove that I'm still alive.**


	7. Charlie One Three Zero

**I blame the delay in getting this chapter up on exams. And me forgetting to write in the past two weeks because I was massacring aliens in Reach. Sorry.**

Charlie One Three Zero

Eragon had been wondering what the Secretary meant by a Hercules coming to pick them up. He stopped wondering when an enormous vehicle – half the size of the _Discovery_, but enormous nonetheless – roared down onto the same grey strip the shuttle had attempted to land on. It looked like the shuttle too, with the exception of its long wings with what looked like four small windmills attached to the bottom. The Hercules slowed to a stop halfway along the runway, and a ramp dropped down at its rear. Apparently the thing was hollow.

"How you gonna get her in there?" Lindsey's voice came from behind.

Eragon turned around and looked at him quizzically.

"Saphira. You can't just have her fly out of here. That would attract too much attention. She wouldn't be able to keep up anyway."

"Oh, I... I don't know, really."

A quick series of metallic clangs and a few curses came from the Hercules.

The _Discovery _crewmen were staring in either amusement or intrigue. Eragon turned back around to see what happened. _Saphira?_

_Hurry up, little one! This oversized metal bird is even more cramped than the last one,_ was the half-aggravated, half-resigned response.

"She can take care of herself." Eragon smiled and faced the crew and the Secretary. "Are you coming with us?"

The suited man replied for them all. "No, they're going home and I have to head back to Washington. Got two wars to run and the damn Congress wants another briefing on north Africa..." He began to trail off into mumbles, caught himself, and continued. "Well. It's been good meeting you Eragon. The crew on that plane'll take care of you." He extended a hand. Eragon shook. The process repeated for the other men and women standing there. The Rider waved as he walked away.

* * *

Eragon looked around as he entered the Hercules – the Secretary had called it a plane, so maybe Hercules was its name. It looked nothing like the interior of the _Discovery_. Well, almost nothing like it; there was still the now familiar sight of a certain blue dragon crammed between the walls. There was a long metal bench along each wall and not much else. A single man was sitting on one, dressed in bulky brown clothes and inspecting a strange black object. He looked up. "You Eragon?"

Eragon nodded.

The man stood up on the bench, cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled to the front of the plane. "We got him! Close the door and take off!" There was a muffled reply.

"Yes, we have the damn dragon! What did you think the huge blue scaly thing was?"

Another muffled reply that sounded vaguely like "up yours too."

The man sighed, sat back down, and shook Eragon's hand. Eragon sat on the bench opposite him.

_These people are unusually fond of that gesture,_ Saphira commented.

"Sergeant Major James Atkinson, United States Army. Good to meet you. Sorry 'bout that little shouting match. Normally I'd just go up there and talk to 'em, but there was a little obstruction." He gestured at Saphira, who glared, and went back to fiddling with the black thing he was holding.

Eragon sat back and felt and heard the plane shake and roar. Then came the familiar feeling of leaving the ground behind. He instinctively looked back to see the ground rushing away... and remembered he was surrounded by metal, not sitting on Saphira's back. He turned back to the army soldier.

"What is that?" He looked at the black thing.

The man didn't look up. "What is what?"

"The thing you're holding."

"Oh, this?" James looked up this time and held up the thing. Eragon nodded. "This is a standard issue M4 carbine. Fires seven hundred five-five-six rounds per minute at three thousand feet per second up to five hundred meters away." He grinned at the look on Eragon's face. Even Saphira blinked in confusion. "It's a weapon. It shoots stuff dead."

"If it shoots, where's the arrow?"

The Sergeant laughed. "No arrows. Bullets." He pulled a rectangular black thing out of the bottom of the carbine. "See this?" He took a brass-plated arrowhead-shaped thing out. "When I pull the trigger – kinda like a crossbow I guess, if they have those where you're from – it shoots the tip of this out the front. You aim right, it hits an enemy." He replaced the cartridge and leaned back as if he'd just explained everything. Eragon, however, was still curious.

"And what happens when it hits them?"

"Usually they die. If not, they get hurt bad, to put it simply."

"But it's tiny!"

"So?"

"How does something that small kill someone a hundred meters away?"

"At least you paid attention to the range... Didn't I say it flies at a speed of three thousand feet per second and it shoots more than one before it's gotta be reloaded?"

Eragon blinked. "How?"

The soldier laughed and put the weapon down. "Damn kid, you have a lot of questions. I'll give you a demonstration on the ground if I can. For now, I need some sleep. They flew me all the way from Texas last night and I've been getting briefings and non-disclosure papers shoved down my throat ever since. We'll be landing in about two hours. Only about a thousand miles to go, not too far, but this isn't the fastest bird in the air." With that, he closed his eyes.

The two Alagaesian passengers spent the entire trip trying to figure out how something could fly that fast and still be considered slow.

* * *

Back at Kennedy Space Center, the shuttle crew and Secretary of Defense watched the massive cargo plane fly off.

Lindsey, ever the leader, spoke first and for the entire crew. "Mr. Secretary?"

"Yes, captain?"

"How long do you think it'll take them to figure out this, well, 'show' we're putting on for 'em?"

"I have no idea, but they better find out when _we_ tell them. Not before. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a call to make."

**Kudos to the first one to know where the chapter title's from. Not too hard to figure out though.**


End file.
